thecircusblog | September 23, 2010
Playing the hotel club dates are somewhat easy. We did two shows per night and a 5 day week. The money was good but we had to cut the act back. The ceiling was so low caused us to take out all of our high tricks. This was a worry for me as I did not […]
thecircusblog | September 23, 2010
Tobie would finish his trick and then milk the audience with his own style.
thecircusblog | September 23, 2010
I always liked slap stick comedy and how in a moment it could change into a serious trick or stunt. Some great examples of slap stick comedy were the vaudeville team The Black Bros, or a clown alley boxing routine as well as the great comedians of the movies like Laurel & Hardy, Keystone Cops and of course […]
thecircusblog | September 23, 2010
There were certain tricks in the act that had to have a serious side to them in order to show the true expertise of the chimps. Dad and I knew that if we appeared as props instead of trainers …. that in itself would sell the act and the plus was…. we were having fun […]
thecircusblog | September 23, 2010
Dad and big Jackie. Dad had to keep a close eye on this chimp if she took a disliking to someone she would throw the stilts like a javelin at them. Photo was taken at the Barbary Coast, Hoyt Hotel, Portland, Oregon.
thecircusblog | August 17, 2010
It isn’t too often you are blessed with two fine chimpanzees….Makimba was one of them. Bongie was my first but that doesn’t mean that the other chimps were not important to the act. For years Bongie carried the act with his comedy and later Makimba took over. In 1952 we started out with one chimp named Jackie. […]
thecircusblog | August 17, 2010
In the late 1950’s Dad and I thought it might be a good idea to put together a brochure. This was a proto type for our cover. After countless hours we scrapped the idea. Dad said “lets just get some good 8 X 10’s made of the act and go from there”. As usual he […]
thecircusblog | August 17, 2010
The Bongo drums were bigger than the chimp but Toby did his best to be heard. We were on the Hubert Castle show when this photo was taken and was at the Winterland Arena on Sutter St and Polk, San Fransisco 1966. I understand that the arena is no longer there.
thecircusblog | August 17, 2010
This photo of myself and Bongie was taken on the Al Mall International Circus, Spring dates 1968.
thecircusblog | August 17, 2010
This was usually our closing trick. Bongie every now and then would balance on his head and then let go of the gimmicks. I did not want him to do this and I would shake the perch pole just a bit to stop him. This day was one of those times. It was a great trick….. balancing without holding […]
